Green Newport West candidate calls for New Deal for Newport

6 March 2019

The Green Party Deputy Leader and anti-Brexit campaigner wants to see a Green New Deal in the UK similar proposals currently being proposed in the US.

Amelia Womack was born and raised in Newport. The 34-year-old has been Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since 2014. She qualified as a scientist in 2007 and has since worked with businesses to deliver social and environmental change in communities.

“The Green Party has been talking about a Green New Deal for the last ten years. It’s amazing to see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bringing this to life in the U.S. This has inspired me, as well as the wider Green Party, to get it back on the agenda here, starting with this byelection.”

The Green New Deal takes its inspiration from Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s, which used massive investment in jobs and infrastructure to pull the US out of the Great Depression.

A Green New Deal would mobilise resources on a scale unprecedented in peacetime to tackle the climate emergency and address spiralling inequality. It would involve huge investment in clean energy, warm homes and affordable public transport – delivering a decent, well-paid job to everyone who wants one. It would rebuild once proud communities that have been hollowed out by deindustrialisation and austerity, allowing them to thrive as part of a collective endeavour to protect the planet. And it would protect and restore threatened habitats and carbon sinks like forests, wild places, soils and oceans.

“Newport has higher unemployment than many places and lots of empty properties. A Green New Deal in Wales would create thousands of jobs in Newport in exciting industries which are growing around the world. We have seen ten years of austerity now which clearly hasn’t worked. A Green New Deal would create jobs, help people out of poverty and give the Newport economy a massive boost.”

If Amelia is elected in Newport West she would be joining Caroline Lucas who has been a Member of Parliament since 2010. Caroline was elected on a manifesto based on the Green New Deal and is backing Amelia’s campaign. Caroline said:

“The Green Party urgently needs more voices in Westminster and Amelia would be a powerful voice for the people of Newport. We have a fast closing window of opportunity to act to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and young people in particular are starting to demand that their voices be heard. I hope Amelia will join me soon in Westminster to help deliver a Green New Deal, which would see a massive increase in green investment alongside the creation of hundreds of thousands of good quality jobs.”

Amelia is co-founder of Another Europe and has been campaigning for a People’s Vote. The by-election will be held just days after the proposed date for leaving the European Union.

“We have seen two years of chaos in Westminster. Scientists now accept we have until 2030 to take positive action to avoid climate breakdown. We need politicians who do their jobs and take this threat seriously rather than wasting time.”

Amelia grew up in Newport and says that Paul Flynn was an inspiration to her when she was young, leading to her getting involved in politics.

“I am proud of the rich history and resilience of my home. Newport West has had a radical free-thinking MP and I am ready to continue in Paul’s footsteps.”